Yes, Neill Blomkamp’sAliens sequel is still happening, yes Sigourney Weaver is confirmed to return. And yes, Weaver just confirmed what has been wildly rumored about the project. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Weaver reiterated Blomkamp’s comments on the direction the sequel would take:

…Weaver is working with District 9 filmmaker Neill Blomkamp to create a new Aliens sequel, one that picks up where Cameron’s film left off and somewhat de-canonizes David Fincher’s Alien 3 (1992) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection (1997).

“It’s just as if, you know, the path forks and one direction goes off to three and four and another direction goes off to Neill’s movie,” Weaver says.

What they mean when they say “de-canonize Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection,” is that they will act as if those two films don’t exist. Instead of continuing the story of those films, Blomkamp’sAliens sequel is going to pick up where Aliens left off, and tell a brand new story not affected by the de-canonized Alien films.

This is pretty unprecedented for a Hollywood film, as I can’t think of any other franchise to essentially say “Hey looks go back to the exact point where we fucked up the franchise and try and course correct from there.” I know Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection has its defenders and this news is sure to rub some the wrong way, I have to admit this really excites me. After Aliens, the franchise really flew off the rails and has failed to recover it’s former glory ever since. Blomkamp taking it all back to basics and giving Aliens the sequel it deserves is something I am 100% in favor for, and I’m eager to see the final result.

While film has yet to officially start production, being delayed due to Ridley Scott fast tracking his Prometheus sequel Alien: Covenant, I’m glad that we are getting confirmation that Blomkamp’sAliens is still happening. We’ll keep an eye out for any more further developments.

So what do you think of this de-canonizing of Alien 3 and 4? Are you in favor for it like I am, or do you think this set’s a dangerous precedent for franchises to follow? Let me know in the comments below!

I’m very happy about the nightmare that is Alien: Resurrection being removed from the Alien canon, and while Alien 3 is a good film in it’s own right, it’s probably for the best that it isn’t canon. So this is good news.

I’m curious to see if the film makes any reference to the canonical Alien: Isolation game. A great game in it’s own right, it’s canonical status remains in question. Aliens: Colonial Marines is technically canon as well, but I think we are all in agreement in that game going the way of Alien 3 and Resurrection.